Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1111/1462-2920.12597
Title (Primary) Forever competent: deep-sea bivalves are colonized by their chemosynthetic symbionts throughout their lifetime
Author Wentrup, C.; Wendeberg, A.; Schimak, M.; Borowski, C.; Dubilier, N.
Source Titel Environmental Microbiology
Year 2014
Department UMB
Volume 16
Issue 12
Page From 3699
Page To 3713
Language englisch
UFZ wide themes RU3;
Abstract Symbiotic bivalves at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps host chemosynthetic bacteria intracellularly in gill cells. In bivalves, the gills grow continuously throughout their lifetime by forming new filaments. We examined how newly developed gill tissues are colonized in bivalves with horizontal and vertical symbiont transmission (Bathymodiolus mussels versus a vesicoymid clam) using fluorescence in situ hybridization and transmission electron microscopy. Symbiont colonization was similar in mussels and clams and was independent of the transmission modes. Symbionts were absent in the growth zones of the gills, indicating that symbionts colonize newly formed gill filaments de novo after they are formed and that gill colonization is a continuous process throughout the host's lifetime. Symbiont abundance and distribution suggested that colonization is shaped by the developmental stage of host cells. Self-infection, in which new gill cells are colonized by symbionts from ontogenetically older gill tissues, may also play a role. In mussels, symbiont infection led to changes in gill cell structure similar to those described from other epithelial cells infected by intracellular pathogens, such as the loss of microvilli. A better understanding of the factors that affect symbiont colonization of bivalve gills could provide new insights into interactions between intracellular bacteria and epithelial tissues.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=15848
Wentrup, C., Wendeberg, A., Schimak, M., Borowski, C., Dubilier, N. (2014):
Forever competent: deep-sea bivalves are colonized by their chemosynthetic symbionts throughout their lifetime
Environ. Microbiol. 16 (12), 3699 - 3713 10.1111/1462-2920.12597